The document provides a long list of travel tips and destinations for day trips near Corpus Christi, Texas and longer trips around Texas, organized by region. It recommends beaches, museums, parks, small towns and cities to visit, giving details on attractions and suggestions for things to see, do and eat in each location.

1. Delta Kappa Gamma has a passion for travel!<br />MAKING MEMORIES CLOSER TO HOME-<br />Summer Travel Tips for Destinations Near Corpus Christi<br />Presented by Angela Steagall<br />April 5, 2011<br />CORPUS CHRISTI <br />RETHINK THE EVERY DAY- Choose a foreign land and then take on that culture for a day.<br />Asian Cultures Museum

2. Asian restaurant

3. Movie set in an Asian country.SURROUNDING AREA<br />Beachcombing at Port O’Connor<br />38 miles of beach

4. Shuttle (with a reservation)

5. Rent bikes for $10 a day

6. Cast iron lighthouse from 1852

7. Take bags for the shells you find.PORT ARANSAS<br />Rent a condo or a room.

8. Deep sea fishing on the Wharf Cat or Scat Cat.

9. St. Joe Island for shelling- rent a bike.

10. Ride horses on the beach at Mustang Stables. Take bug spray!

11. Little Chapel on the Hill, hosted tour by the Port Aransas Museum.

12. Visit the UT Marine Science Institute.

13. Go to the Jetties. The ISLAND<br />Go out to the National Seashore.

14. Watch for sea turtles!

15. Build sand furniture, make seaweed hair…

16. Pack a cooler with drinks and cold fruit. Leave a Tupperware container of chocolate bars in the window. When you get cleaned up from the beach, have “sun due”.SAN ANTONIO<br />Latin Heaven-<br />Pearl Brewery Complex

17. Farmer’s Market

18. Culinary Institute Of America

19. The La Gloria Ice House-Mexican street foods

20. Tienda de Cocina

21. Museum Reach

22. Havana Riverwalk Inn

23. Club Cohiba

24. Yanaguana River Cruise.Travel the Mission Trail- www.nps.gov/saan-Look on Highway 90 West for signs.<br />Alamo

25. Concepcion

26. Espada- most primitive

27. San Juan

28. San Jose- most elegant- has a Mariachi Mass at noon on SundaysAlamo Heights/281 up Broadway-<br />San Antonio Museum of Art-Rockefeller Center for Latin American Art

29. Breckenridge Park

30. Zoo

31. Japanese Tea Garden

32. McNay Art Museum

33. Botanical Gardens

34. Quarry

35. North Star Mall

36. Alamo Café for great fajitas and warm, fluffy tortillas. River Walk Food Walk-<br />People watch! Ask for an outdoor table if you can.

37. You don’t have to have an entire meal on the Riverwalk to enjoy it.El Mercado- <br />Museo Alameda- www.thealameda.org- is the first Smithsonian-affiliated museum outside of Washington DC.

38. Pick up a fruit cup from a vendor.

39. El Mercado

40. Mi Tierra-mariachis and pan dulce! West of San Antonio-<br />Garner State Park in Concan

41. Largest Oak Tree in Texas

42. Old time soda fountain at the Rexal Drugs on Hwy 83

43. Hermann Sons Steak House in HondoBulverde- Guadalupe River State Park<br />Good facilities

44. Nature photography

45. Outdoor cooking- an apple over the fire rolled in cinnamon sugar is awesome, or a banana boat with chocolate chips and mini mallows, hobo packets, roasted corn… yummy!

46. Swim, tube, skip rocks, tan, float… you get the picture.HILL COUNTRY<br />Hill Country Wonders-<br />Try Natural Bridge Caverns north of San Antonio @IH 35. Next, try Wonder World Park and Cave in San Marcos- www.wonderworldpark.com- home of the Texas Blind Salamander.Shop Till You Drop in New Braunfels and Gruene--<br />Shop the Palace Heights Antique Mall in New Braunfels, for lots of little nooks and crannies to explore. Head on up to Gruene( exit 191 to Hunter Road, left ½ mile). Stop by The Gristmill for lunch. Market Days in Gruene are every third weekend. Hit the Prime Outlets at exit 200.Hill Country Splashdown<br />Schlitterbahn , exit 190 B-a Texas summer tradition, fed by the Comal River- www.schlitterbahn.com- In New Braunfels.

47. Tube the River leaving from Landa Park in New Braunfels.

48. Kayak the river, leaving from Rio Vista Falls in San Marcos.

49. San Marcos Kayak and Canoe Rentals for the River-Power

50. Olympic Outdoor Center- www.kayakinstruction.org

51. San Marcos Lions Club rentals- www.tubesanmarcos.com

52. San Marcos Aquarena Springs- Glass Bottom Boat Tour San Marcos- <br />Texas State University- Whitliff Collections- Free Admission- www.library.txstate.edu/swwc and the Photography Gallery featuring the works of Liebowitz

53. LBJ Museum of San Marcos- Free- www.lbjmuseum.com

54. Old Baldy/Prayer Mountain- 218 steps to see the valley-from RR 2325, turn North onto Woodcreek Road, right on El Camino Real-wind through the neighborhood, right at LaToya Trail. Go till you are at the foot of Old Baldy. Wimberley- <br />Over 100 little shops and eateries in the square.

55. Hit Blue Hole- a pristine oasis for swimming beneath towering cypress trees.

56. Drive Devil’s Backbone-RM 12 south of town. Fredericksburg- <br />Wildseed Farms- 7 miles east from town.

57. Main Street for shopping- don’t miss the kitchen store, the Homestead and Dooley’s 5 and 10

58. Nimitz Museum- dedicated to the conflict in the Pacific during World War II

59. Rock Box Theatre- cute fifties style shows in a little air conditioned theatre

60. Rebecca Rather’s Rather Sweet Bakery Just out of Fredericksburg-<br />Enchanted Rock- vernal pools

61. Bluebonnet Drive- The Willow City Loop 13 miles North East of town just off of State Hwy 16

62. Luckenbach! Home of Willie and Waylon and The Boys.Burnet- <br />Longhorn Caverns State Park- the drive to get here is not for the faint of heart. Driftwood-<br />SaltLick BBQ-On FM 1826- No credit cards and BYOB- but the most incredible barbecue ever!

63. Hamilton Pool and Grotto- http://co.travis.tx.us/tnr/parks

64. Spicewood (off Hwy 71 West) is Krause SpringsMarble Falls- <br />Blue Bonnet Café for gigantic meringue pies- $3 Happy Hour!AUSTIN<br />Odd and Offbeat Austin-<br />Painted guitars along the street, or rent a Segway to look around.

65. Congress Street Bats at Dusk- 1.5 million bats

66. Visit South Congress Avenue. People watch. Eat at Zen Japanese Food Fast for good teriyaki bowls and sushi on the cheap. Shop the little boutiques and thrift stores in the area. Try the food trucks at 1603 S. Congress

67. Try on costumes at Lucy in Disguise

68. Uncommon Objects and Terra Toys Live Music-<br />Sixth Street is world famous for partying. It is not everyone’s scene… just saying.

69. The Broken Spoke- 3201 S. Lamar- legendary honky tonk.

70. The Continental Club- Rockabilly favorite- on South Congress- packed ear-to-armpit at times.

71. Antone’s House of the Blues, Emo’s and Threadgills have hosted some amazing musicians.

72. South By Southwest Festival- Every March with 60 stages!

73. Austin City Limits Festival- ACL- Late September- 12 hours of music a day for 3 days for$105- get a cab ride there for $10 from Downtown to avoid the parking hassle. It sells out frequently, so get tickets early. www.austincitylimits.com The Capitol Complex and UT<br />2100-2400 Blocks of Guadalupe are right across the street from the UT campus and have some cool little shops (great place for people watching). On the campus of University of Texas, You will find the <br />Ransom Center- 36 million manuscripts and a million rare books, including the Gutenberg Bible.

74. LBJ Presidential Museum and Library will give you great insight into the Sixties.

75. Texas Memorial Museum- Natural Science at its best. http://www.utexas.edu/tmm/

76. Jack Blanton Museum of art has a lovely open space for viewing art

77. Right across the street from the Bob Bullock Museum of Texas History, which is right behind the

78. State Capitol Building. Take a free tour of the capitol. Once when we went, our tour guide was blind! It was amazing to witness. Make sure you stand in the center of the Rotunda and clap to hear the echo, sing “Deep in the Heart of Texas” and take a picture of the whole inner rotunda.

79. Finish up with barbecue at Iron Works BBQ at 100 Red River or Stubbs BBQ Downtown.Decidedly Austin-<br />Kearbey Lane Café- Great pancakes- like really great! 512-451-1436

80. Check http://www.citywidegaragesale.com -Palmer Auditorium… monthly.

81. Barton Springs Pool in Zilker Park is 68 degrees all year. See the little exhibit about the aquifer.

82. Big Red Sun- plant nursery with a home/children’s boutique- 1102 E. Cesar Chavez

83. Austin Farmer’s Market- Try this place any Saturday, February through December. www.austinfarmersmarket.org. Garden workshops, cooking and music happen weekly.

84. Mount Bonnell- This is not the place to go if you do not enjoy driving in steep hilly conditions, but the view is a great payoff! You will see all of Lake Austin from up high!

85. Barton Creek Square Mall- Don’t miss the Lego Store, where your kids can pick out their own container of bricks from a giant wall sorted by size and color, for 7.99, then hit Lammes Candies.

86. Free Austin Symphony concerts- Sun. summer evenings under the gazebo in Wooldridge Park

87. Eat out on the Lake at Hula Hut- Mexican and Hawaiian fusion food – or Sunset at the Oasis- 40 levels of outdoor decks overlooking the lake- 6550 Comanche Trail- crowds at both.

88. Newly remodeled Laguna Gloria, the Art Museum of Austin, is on Lake Austin.

89. Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center on MoPac at LaCrosse has a 42-ft tower to make beautiful photos. Idea gardens for homeowners and walking trails make this place relaxing.Lamar- This central neighborhood has some of the most quintessentially Austin places to visit.<br />At Sixth Street and Lamar-<br />Book People- A three-story bookstore

90. Waterloo Records- new, old and hard-to-find music

91. Amy’s Ice Cream

92. Whole Foods – sampling, cooking classes and live music-pick up lunch and drive across the water to Zilker Park or Barton Springs to have a picnic.

93. Lulu B’s is a Vietnamese fast food trailer under a giant oak- 2113 South Lamar- YUM.

94. Gordough’s- Fat doughnuts $4 each- 1219 S. Lamar- Try the Black Out!

95. Vintage shops around the 2100 block of South Lamar

96. Half Price Books a little further down, the only one on that side of town.Around the World Food Tour of Austin-<br />Try out the food trucks- you will not be sorry! Seriously! Check South Lamar and South Congress.<br />For established eateries/restaurants-<br />No. 2 Rated Burger in Texas- Counter Burger at the counter Café, 626 N. Lamar.

97. Mandola’s Italian Market- Try Mamma’s Meatballs- $1.50 for 3- at 4700 W. Guadalupe.

98. Burger Tex II- Try the Bulgogi Burger, a sesame oil, garlic and soy flavored burger of sliced, yes sliced, beef with roasted garlic and onions- 2912 Guadalupe.

99. Garridos for a hip taqueria- www.garridosaustin.com

100. Ruby’s BBQ- www.rubysbbq.com for organic barbecue

101. Great upscale regional food, like chicken-fried venison, at Mesa Ranch www.mesaranchaustin.com.

102. Hyde Park Grill- 4206 Duval- Famous for their fries and changing fry sign out front

103. Treehouse Italian- Live Oak Between Congress and Lamar- this restaurant is in a tree!

104. Sullivans- 300 Colorado- fancy 1920’s art deco style steak house- wonderful food, beautiful inside with rich mahogany woods and artwork… expensive.Northwest Austin- <br />The Arboretum- N 183 at Capitol of TX Hwy- shopping.

105. Upscale shops and The Cheesecake Factory/ PF Changs Back behind Amy’s Ice Cream is a little fountain, park and bronze cattle that the kids can climb on… really pretty area.

106. The Domain- acres of shops outdoors- relatively new to Austin- right off of Braker Lane.Round Rock- <br />Round Rock Donuts- Exit Round Rock Avenue off of I 35 and go to Liberty Ave. This is the home of some of the tastiest doughnuts you could ever ask for. Try the 13 inch giant for the family! Try the Antique Mall of Texas at exit 259 on I35, as well as the Ikea store and the Prime Outlet.EAST OF AUSTIN<br />Have your own barbecue tasting contest.<br />Luling at the City Market BBQ- 633 Davis-

107. Tiny Vintage Houses on I 10 near Luling at exit 628 (www.tinytexashouses.com )

108. Lockhart -Kreuz Meat Market US183 just north of town

109. And Smitty’s at 208 S. CommerceCamp out in really cool cabins and make your own barbecue. <br />Bastrop State Park (www.tpwd.state.tx.us/bastrop has beautiful old stone and wood cabins built by the Civilian Conservation Corps at Lost Pines in the 1930’s. Located on Texas 21, cabins are $65-$152 a night and the park is $3 to get in. Great grills are here for your cooking needs. Number 12 is the largest and has four bedrooms and a screened porch. The rest sleep 2-6, have heating and AC, kitchens and outdoor grills. Linens are provided and there is a pool, golf course, canoe rentals and trails for walking and cycling. Blast from the Past Weekend-<br />Once in your life, if you like antiques, you should go to the Original Round Top Antiques Fair the first weekend of April and October each year. You can purchase tickets on the website. They have tents along the road and at the Rifle Hall, Great White Tent, Big Red Barn and the Antiques Annex, as well as the Carmine Dance Hall. Visit www.roundtopantiquesfair.com Some people make reservations as early as a year in advance, so if you want to stay in the area, plan way ahead. Take 290 East about 65 miles and head south on 237 at Carmine. While there, eat at Royer’s Round Top Café in the Square- it is a little pricey but it is awesome. Try the chocolate chip cookie Pie. They serve all pie with ice cream- it costs extra to have it plain. If you still want to shop, hit the little shops in their square. This is a tiny, tiny town but they have really amazing antiques.

110. Head back up the road to Brenham. The fields around here look like Kentucky horse farms- it is gorgeous. East Alamo Street has 12 antique stores. The Best of Yesterday and Today is the best one. Don’t miss the Blue Bell factory Tour and tasting at Loop 577 of Hwy 290 East www.bluebell.com . The old restored carousel, one of only 8 in Texas, is at 902 N. Park. There is also the Blue Bell Aquatic Center at 1800 E. Tom Green, with an indoor pool and an outdoor pool.

111. Just up the road from here is the Washington-on-the-Brazos State Historic Site, where you can visit the Star of the Republic Texas history museum www.starmuseum.org . See fields of bluebonnets in the right season along the west side of FM50, along with the ruins of the original Baylor University and the Antique Rose Emporium. Try to catch the miniature horse farm run by nuns nearby.

112. Last but not least, see the Seward Plantation, a 1,000 acre plantation built in the 1850’s cotton era complete with log slave quarters and barns. This is only open weekends March through May, located at 10005 FM 390 in Brenham.HOUSTON<br />It Seems Like India-<br />The 5000-5900 blocks of Hillcroft are known as Little India, which is close to Harwin. If you have always wanted to go to India but were afraid to try it, this is a good beginner’s place to start. Roop Sari Palace( 5901 Hillcroft Suite A-1) has all sorts of saris in every color under the sun. Next door is Fashion Jewelry (suite A-2), with Metal Indian bracelets of all kinds of jewels are here at all price points. Metro shoes and Shoe Gallery (B-2 and C-2) have inexpensive beaded slippers from Pakistan. Kohinoor Diamonds(C-1) has some items less than $100, so if you are looking for a beaded handbag, this is the place to go. Namaste (suite C-4) has all sorts of Hindu shrine items and torans, the bright door banners. If you get hungry, try the Bijan Persian Grill at 5922 Hillcroft. The ground grilled chicken is wonderful.Faux China-<br />Bellaire Boulevard, which runs east off of Hwy 59 South, is Houston’s Chinatown. It is here where all sorts of oriental people have settled and live day to day as if they were in their home countries. Street signs are in Chinese and the public library branch has large sections of books in all sorts of Asian languages.

113. You can take a tour of the following places with Christy Chang at Asian Heritage Discovery or try them yourself. These run some weekdays and some Saturdays www.asianheritagediscovery.com .

114. Feast on authentic 10-course Chinese dim sum lunch at Ocean Palace Restaurant or Fung’s Kitchen. Explore Hong Kong City Mall. Browse the stores, fast-food noodle houses and huge market. Check out the variety of fresh foods unknown to us and try some bubble tea, which gets its name from the large and dark, gummy yet tasty bubble tea, made from your choice of fruit juice and green tea. Check out the cloth at Kim’s Fabrics. Visit a Buddhist temple. Try an informal tea ceremony at the Chinese Community Center. The Mulan Clothing and Souvenir Market (9862 Harwin) has the best prices of anything on Harwin Drive, which runs parallel to Bellaire but to the north. It is hot in the summer, as most places are in storage spaces, but have great prices on fashionable items. Charming Charlie (like the store in corpus but 10,000 square feet) is at 6959 Harwin, and Payal at 5615 Savoy is a favorite of Indian brides looking for jewelry to match their saris. River Oaks/ Galleria Area<br />This mega-mall with an ice rink. Travel under the overpass to try out some shops and restaurants on Westheimer. Across from Lamar High School, try Crescent City Café (on the left) for beignets and coffee will make you feel like you are in NOLA. Stop by Jenni’s Noodle House for some great Asian http://www.noodlesrule.com/menus.php .Museums of Houston-There are so many!!!!<br />Museum of Natural Science- Dinosaur skeletons, a great gemological hall and shell collection and a butterfly center are permanent, but the travelling exhibits are amazing. www.hmns.org

115. Holocaust Museum- 5401 Caroline- Free- Nearby, this small yet sobering museum will give you a look at the events of the Holocaust along with a travelling exhibit of some kind.

116. The Children’s Museum of Houston is super and close, as well. www.cmhouston.org

117. The Health Museum- 1515 Hermann Drive- www.thehealthmuseum.org – Okay, this sounds lame but you can explore giant sculptures of human organs in this highly-interactive museum.

118. Buffalo Soldier National Museum- 1834 Southmore- www.buffalosoldiermuseum.com

119. The Menil Collection- 1515 Sul Ross- Free- www.menil.org An amazing art museum that is regarded as one of the most important privately assembled collections of the 20th Cent.Vintage Houston- The Heights<br />Nineteenth Street for shopping- Shade (250 W. Nineteenth) has a mean fried green tomato sandwich. Balinskas (242 W. Nineteenth) has a great local collection of imports from India, China, Indonesia and Mexico. Penzeys Spices (516 W. Nineteenth) smells like heaven for a cook- a global bazaar of spices from around the world. Retropolis (321 W. Nineteenth) has two floors of amazing vintage clothing. Tansu (321 W. Nineteenth) has elegant Japanese papers (the origami kind), as well as accessories and fountains.

120. Stop by Bayou Bend, the Museum of Fine Arts on the estate of the late Ima Hogg on 14 acres of gardens. It is located in River Oaks off Memorial Drive at 1 Wescott Street. March is azalea time. www.mfah.org/bayoubend Rice Village Food Tour- <br />Choose your favorite kinds of food and let the party begin. A word to the wise: just get one appetizer and split it amongst the people in your party. You are going for tastes and not to fill up. Drink water to avoid extra costs.

121. Spanish tapas at Mi Luna Cuban fare at El Meson

122. Chinese at Fu’s Garden Bagels at Einstein Brothers

123. Italian at Prego, Fuzzy’s Pizza Dessert at Ruggles Bakery

124. Deli food at Kahn’s Deli BBQ at Goode Company

125. French at Croissant Brioche, La Madeleine and Café Rabelais

126. Thai at Patu, Miss Saigon, Café Chino, and Thai Spice

127. Indian at Bombay Brasserie and ShivaAmong the restaurants are a sprinkling of cute shops, which you should not miss as well as a two-story Half Price Books that you can hit while you allow your food to digest.<br />Book Crawl-<br />You’ve heard of a pub crawl… why not a book crawl? Try to hit all of the bookstores in Houston! My favorites are Half Price Books (there are NINE), but Houston has a few that are special to the city:<br />-Brazos Bookstore, 2421 Bissonnet -www.brazosbookstore.com

128. -Murder by the Book-2342 Bissonnet- www.murderbooks.com

129. -Detering Book Gallery- 2311 Bissonnet

130. -The Book Collector- 4106 South Shepherd- www.oldtinsoldiershoppe.com

131. -Blue Willow- http://www.bluewillowbookshop.com – Memorial at Dairy Ashford East of Houston-<br />Galveston<br />This is what I know from before Hurricane Ike. <br />Hotel Galvez and Spa- a Wyndham Hotel, this place was built in 1911 to attract tourists after a hurricane nearly destroyed the town at the turn of the century. It is pricey, but regardless of if you stay there, you should go just to see it. It is beautiful.

132. The West End beach has great shelling because of how the wind pushes the water away from the shore, exposing lots of fresh sand.

133. Star Drug Store is supposedly the oldest drug store in Texas and has a newly refurbished soda fountain. 510 TwentyThird Street.

134. Schlitterbahn opened a park with an indoor part to keep visitors cool. Smaller and less crowded than the original, it is a nice day out.

135. Moody Gardens has 3 themed pyramids with theatres exploring the rainforest, the ocean and science.

136. There is a free ferry at the north end of the island that takes 15 minutes-watch the dolphins.

137. The Tremont Hotel at 2300 Ships Mechanics Row is one of the most haunted buildings in Galveston. Founded in 1839, it is gorgeous- don’t miss the rooftop deck.

138. Midsummer Books at 2309 Mechanic is a great book shop with great armchairs.

139. Watch the 27 minute movie entitled “The Great Storm” from 11-6 on the hour at Pier 21@North 21st

140. Tour the homes- The Bishops Palace at 1402 Broadway, the 1894 Opera House at 2020 Post Office Street and the Moody Mansion at 2618 Broadway are historic relics that survived the Great Storm of 1900.La Porte<br />San Jacinto Battleground- The place Texas won independence from Mexico also houses the Battleship Texas, which saw action at Normandy and Okinawa. Located off Hwy 225. Admission is free. www.sanjacinto-museum.org Webster<br />Johnson Space Center- visit soon before the government closes it! www.spacecenter.org is part theme park and part museum.Kemah<br />The Kemah Boardwalk has shops, restaurants and amusement rides.General Websites to Help You Find Places of Interest:<br />http://family.go.com/travel/vacations/texas/for-children <br />http://www.trekaroo.com/places/texas/snapshot <br />http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest <br />Inexpensive Hotel Rooms:<br />www.priceline.com Name Your Own Price- choose an area you want and the highest star level possible. Figure out what the going rate is in that area then lowball your bid. Try about 50%-60% off when you are booking earlier, but you can go as low as $50 a night when it is the night before. This is for $200 and $300 a night rooms…. If your bid is not accepted, you have to change the area or the star level. It is fine <br />to go down one star level, but if it still doesn’t take your bid, close out and wait 24 hours to start over.<br />